[en] This paper concentrates on one particular line of development of a scanning x-ray microscope. The source of soft x-radiation is discussed and the development of high resolution focusing elements are described along with the results of some initial tests are presented. The parameters of the microscope are defined and the future program is outlined. Certain areas where significant improvements can be respected are discussed

[en] The King's College London scanning transmission x-ray microscope in use on beam line 5U2 at the SRS, SERC Daresbury Laboratory, has been modified to allow dark-field images to be formed using only the x rays scattered by the specimen. Experiments have been performed with a number of different detector geometries, and this has confirmed that the strongest scattering arises from edges or thickness gradients in the specimen. Although the dark-field signal is only a small fraction of the normal transmitted bright-field signal, features can be revealed with high contrast, and it has proved possible to detect the presence of features that are below the resolution limit of the microscope

[en] An imaging microscope, comprising a Schwarzschild condenser and zone plate optical arrangement, has been established on the Vulcan Nd-glass laser system at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL). Images of simple test structures have been taken in X-ray transmission using doublet X-ray laser radiation at 23.2 nm and 23.6 nm from collisionally pumped Ne-like germanium. Image resolutions of about 0.15 μm have been measured. The results are intended as a proof of principle and demonstrate both that images can be taken successfully using the Vulcan X-ray laser, and of specimen regions which are destroyed on passage of the X-ray beam

[en] An account is given of selected instrumental aspects of high (atomic) resolution using CTEM (conventional transmission electron microscopy) and the observation, using STEM (scanning transmission electron microscopy), of electron energy loss spectra of beam-sensitive materials at very low dose rates. The account falls under the following headings: high resolution phase contrast images; in-line holography; pattern recognition; electron energy loss spectra with low dose. (U.K.)

[en] Consideration is given to selected instrumental aspects of high (atomic) resolution imaging using CTEM and the observation using STEM of electron energy loss spectra of beam-sensitive materials at very low dose rates. The subject is discussed under the following headings: high resolution phase contrast images; in-line holography; pattern recognition; electron energy loss spectra with low dose. (U.K.)

[en] The SNXM was first installed at the European Synchrotron Research Facility in November 1998. It has been designed for water-window operation at a spatial resolution of about 10 nm and in its final form will comprise a Zone Plate focusing X-ray onto a cylindrical collimator 10-20 nm in diameter, made by drilling an AFM tip, with its exist aperture within a few nm of the specimen surface. The operation of the microscope may be loosely defined to be in near-field in analogy with the optical SNOM. Point to point resolution equal to the collimator diameter is expected for specimens up to 200 nm thick. The collimator to surface separation is also monitored by the AFM scanning tip. Simultaneous signals are available from X-ray transmission and surface topography. A progress report is given limited by the current availability of high energy X-rays (3-6 Kev)

[en] Previously high-resolution soft x-ray microscopy has only been possible with synchrotron sources. Here, the first successful attempts at using a scanning transmission x-ray microscope with a laser-plasma source are reported. Spatial resolutions were limited to about 650 nm by electrical noise in the detector, but single shot per pixel images were obtained of test and real specimens. The microscope was not optimized to the source since it was designed for use on the undulator beam line of a synchrotron. With an improved system, it is demonstrated that single shot per pixel imaging at high resolution (better than 50 nm) will routinely be possible